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NAMN Notes: June 2006
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NAMN Notes is a monthly newsletter produced by the North American Meteor Network and is available both via email and on the NAMN website at: http://www.namnmeteors.org

1. June Bootid Activity...
2. Other June Showers...
3. RASC Award for Meteor Researcher - Ed Majden...
4. Summer Reading for Meteor Enthusiasts...
5. Meteor Info Sheets for the Public...
6. Maps and Tools for Learning the Sky...
7. Upcoming Meetings...
8. For more info...

June has come quickly! It is hard to believe that we are almost into summer in the northern hemisphere. For meteors, June is a quiet month - and a time to get things organized and together before all the many meteor showers of July and August. If you need to really learn your sky, now is the month to do it.

The June Bootids (JBO) reach a peak on June 27, with an estimated peak time of 14 hr UT, according to the International Meteor Organization (IMO). UT refers to Universal Time, and is the time at Greenwich, England.

These meteors are debris from Comet 7P/Pons-Winnecke. The comet was discovered from Marseilles, France on June 12th, 1819 by the famous comet hunter Jean Louis Pons. It was accidentally rediscovered on March 9th, 1858 by Friedrich August Theodor Winnecke of Bonn, Germany. Both names were used for the comet. According to Gary Kronk, in his book "Comets - A Descriptive Catalog":

"Johann Encke took special interest in the calculation of this comet's orbit - primarily because of his earliest calculation of an orbital period of just 2.3 years. He set out to calculate a definitive orbit to enable a future recovery and then obtained a period of 5.62 years. Despite Encke's thoroughness, his orbit did not allow a recovery at later returns and Comet Pons was considered lost... Orbital calculations not long after discovery indicated a possible relationship with Comet Pons... by the time the comet was last observed the comets were proved to be identical."

The June Bootids, the debris from Comet Pons-Winnecke, can be observed from about June 26th until July 2nd. The ZHR rate for this meteor shower is classed as variable. What is ZHR? This stands for Zenithal Hourly Rate, and is the number of meteors that an observer would expect to see in an hour, on average, if they are out under a dark country sky, and if the radiant, the area in the sky where the meteors seem to come from, is directly overhead.

In 1998, there was an outburst, with ZHR rates ranging from 50 to over 100 meteors per hour visible for over half a day. Another outburst occurred in 2004, on June 23rd, with ZHR rates of about 20 to 50. Please monitor this shower closely this year - as the skies will be very favorable near the new moon.

The June Bootids are nice slow meteors, with a velocity of about 18 km per second - so will be very distinctive. Even for novice observers, these meteors will stay visible long enough to make an impression.

The radiant at maximum will be at 224 degrees, ie. RA 14h 55.8m, Dec +48, which is about 8 degrees north of the star beta Bootes, the star known as Nekkar. To see a map of this radiant, check out http://www.imo.net/calendar/2006/spring. For star charts to help you in identifying constellations and estimating the brightness of the meteors you see, go to http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html, set your printer to 'landscape' mode, and print yourself off a set of our 4 NAMN star charts to take out observing with you.

If you want to record visual data for the meteor researchers, check out our NAMN Observing Guide for information on what to record. Our Guide can be found at http://www.namnmeteors.org/guide.html. We record such info as the time a meteor occurred, its magnitude (brightness), the shower it belongs to, its speed, and other comments such as train left behind, or color. General information to record includes such things as how dark your perceived sky is (limiting magnitude), and comments on weather and cloud cover. If you have any questions, drop a note to the NAMN Coordinator at meteors@comcast.net

Forms to record your observations can be found at http://www.namnmeteors.org/namn_form.html and http://www.namnmeteors.org/appendixC.html

The Sagittarids (SAG) started to become active about April 15th, and will last through until about July 15th. These are almost slow meteors, at about 30 km per second. ZHR rates are about 5 meteors per hour. Coordinates for the radiant in June are as follows:

June 10   265   -23  ie. RA 17h 40.2m  Dec -23
June 15   270   -23  ie. RA 18h 00m    Dec -23
June 20   275   -23  ie. RA 18h 19.8m  Dec -23
June 25   280   -23  ie. RA 18h 40.2m  Dec -23
June 30   284   -23  ie. RA 18h 55.8m  Dec -23

Fireballs have been associated with the Sagittarid shower, so those observers monitoring this activity could be nicely rewarded for their efforts.

The June Lyrids (JLY), although not on the IMO 'Working List of Visual Meteor Showers' this year, are worth monitoring. They are visible from about June 11th to 21st, with a possible maximum on June 16th. The radiant is at 278 degrees, ie. RA 18h 31.8m, Dec +35. The meteors have an average magnitude of about 3. A map of the radiant can be found at http://www.imo.net/calendar/2004/spring. These are almost slow meteors with a velocity of about 31 km per second. Plotting is encouraged to better determine the radiant position for the meteor researchers.

For radio meteor observers, daylight shower peak times are as follows:

Arietids        June  7  16h UT
zeta Perseids   June  9  16h UT
beta Taurids    June 28  15h UT

According to the IMO, "the Arietid and zeta-Perseid maxima tend to blend into one another, producing a strong radio signature for several days in early June. There are indications these two shower maxima now each occur up to a day later than indicated here too". For full details on these showers, check out the IMO website at http://www.imo.net

For other minor showers not on the International Meteor Organization's 'Working List of Visual Meteor Showers', and for a wealth of historical information on all showers, check out Gary Kronk's "Comets and Meteor Showers" website at http://comets.amsmeteors.org

Besides June's main activity, and other minor showers, there is also sporadic meteor activity. This sporadic meteor activity is about 7 meteors per hour, visible to the unaided eye. Some of these are random, and some belong to old untraceable meteor showers.

Planets at midmonth, and their magnitudes, for northern observers, are:

Venus      -3.8  very low in east-northeast in morning twilight
Jupiter    -2.4  in Libra
Mercury    -0.1  very low in west-northwest in evening twilight
Saturn      0.4  in Cancer, low in west-northwest in evening twilight
Mars        1.7  in Cancer, low in west-northwest in evening twilight

The phases of the moon for June are as follows:

Sat. June  3    first quarter
Sun. June 11    full moon
Sun. June 18    last quarter
Sun. June 25    new moon

On the Victoria Day weekend in May in Canada, Ed Majden was awarded the Chant Medal of the RASC, the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada, for his contributions to astronomy.

The Chant Medal was established in 1940 by the Society "in appreciation of the great work of the late Prof. C.A. Chant in furthering the interests of astronomy in Canada". This medal is awarded to an amateur astronomer resident in Canada "on the basis of the value of the work carried out in astronomy and closely allied fields of the original investigation."

Clarence Augustus Chant is often called the 'father of Canadian astronomy', for his efforts to expand astronomy education in Canada, and establish professional astronomical facilities. He is also well known for a very unusual meteor event that occurred on Sunday, February 9th, 1913, in the skies over North America. A large number of slow majestic meteors traveled in small groups on a similar path across the sky, one group after another in procession. Chant documented the observations - and the meteor event is now known as "Chant's procession". Chant's extremely interesting paper on this event, "An Extraordinary Meteoric Display", complete with many drawings and observers' reports, can be printed off from the ADS website at http://adswww.harvard.edu by looking under "Journal of the Royal Astronomical Society of Canada", 1913, Vol. 7, p. 145, ref. '1913JRASC...7..145C'.

How fitting that the Chant Medal should now be awarded to a dedicated meteor researcher!

We asked Ed Majden a number of questions about his meteor observations and research. The following comments are in his own words, as provided in an interview for NAMN:

1. How did you originally get interested in studying meteors?

"I joined the Regina Astronomical Society as a young student in 1953. My first exciting observation was that of the transit of Mercury in this same year. The RAS conducted visual meteor observations in support of Dr. Peter Millman's meteor programs at the Dominion Observatory in Ottawa. I was introduced to meteor observing at this time and found this very interesting. As Secretary of the RAS, I helped organize a province-wide observation program called Operation Perseid". See: JRASC Vol 51, No. 2

2. What was your working career? What types of work did you do? Was your career related to meteors in any way, or were meteors an interest that followed due to related fields (electronics, optics, etc.... )

"After high school I enlisted in the RCAF and was trained as an Armament Systems Technician. We looked after FCS Radars in fighter aircraft, missile guidance systems, and even torpedoes if you were posted to Maritime Command. The highlight of my career was a posting with RCAF No. 1 Air Division in Europe. I spent a couple of months at 2(F) Wing in France on CF-100's and then was transferred to 3(F) Wing Zweibrucken, Germany where we accepted our new CF-104 Strike Recon. fighters. Another highlight was working on the Bomarc SAM at La Macaza, Quebec and later North Bay Bomarc. My military career ended after 27 years 8 months of service, at CFB Comox in 1986. Coming from the cold Prairies, I decided to retire here in Courtenay, B.C.. The skies are not as clear as Saskatchewan, especially in the winter, but the advantage is not freezing your butt or continuously shovelling snow, ha! ha!!"

3. Where were you born? Where have you lived over the years... and how did you end up in Courtenay, B.C.?

"I was born in Regina, Saskatchewan in October 1939. As noted above, I was stationed at various units across Canada and then Europe. My first ops station was St. Hubert, Quebec where I worked on the CF-100 interceptor."

4. Who were the meteor researchers that originally inspired you when you first got started?

"When I joined the Regina Astronomical Society, the late John V. Hodges was active in meteor spectroscopy, with an objective prism mounted on an old cut film tourist camera. The Regina group obtained their first spectrum in 1955, which was designated as World List Spectrum Number 187. This was the year the RAS Observatory was completed, and Dr. Peter M. Millman came out for the official opening. Peter was of course an early pioneer in meteor spectroscopy and was a world authority. Peter and John got me interested in this field. The RAS obtained a second spectrum in 1956, designated as Spectrum Number 201 on Millman's World List. Meteor spectra were still few in number so all were considered important at this time. The first meteor spectrum was obtained by chance in 1897 during a Harvard stellar spectra patrol program. At the end of 1958 there were only 318 known meteor spectra on record."

5. What was your very first meteor project?

"John Hodges adapted his prism to an old Olympus 120 camera that I had. When he was not using it I tried in vain to capture a spectrum but was not successful. This was during IGY in 1957/58. At this time I was elected president of the Regina Society, and was also the IGY Meteor Program Reporter for the group. When I enlisted in the RCAF I became an armchair astronomer so to speak, reading many papers on meteor spectra that were kindly sent to me by Dr. Peter Millman and Dr. Ian Halliday, and others."

6. Over the years, what new projects, or new directions did your meteor work take?

"In 1969 I read a paper by Professor John A. Russell in Sky & Tel. He was using a surplus K-24 aero lens fitted with an objective prism to record meteor spectra. This sparked my interest again, and I started looking for a prism of my own. The one I found was unsatisfactory as it was a large 60 degree prism of dubious quality. I mentioned this to Peter Millman and he suggested that I have my prism cut into two 30 degree prisms. Not having the capability to do this, Peter found a firm in Ottawa that could do this at a price I could then afford. I mounted one of the prisms on a surplus F-2.5 Aero Ektar lens and fitted it to an old 4X5 Crown Graphic camera. I obtained two Perseid spectra with this unit in 1972 when visiting my sister in Boundary Bay, B.C.. I never looked back since, as I was bitten by this bug!"

7. What are your current meteor projects?

"I am still using my old objective prism units to obtain spectra. My best one to date was obtained in 1986, and Dr. Jiri Borovicka (at the Czech Academy of Sciences and Ondrejov Observatory) and I wrote a joint paper that was published in the JRASC. Sadly, the meteor programs at NRC were terminated as a budget saving measure so I had to look elsewhere for experts in this field. Jiri Borovicka kindly volunteered to measure my best spectra. I have since added transmission gratings and an image intensifier system to my equipment. See my home page at: http://members.shaw.ca/epmajden/index.htm"

8. Who are your current meteor mentors?

"My current mentors are Dr. Jiri Borovicka, head of the meteor spectra program in the Czech Republic. Also one of Jiri's grad students, Dr. Josep M. Trigo-Rodriguez in Spain. I have also been in contact with Dr. Peter Jenniskens, from NASA/SETI. He has my video intensified spectra in his archive and hopefully they will be of some use in the future. I am also in contact with Dr. Bob Hawkes, Dr. Peter Brown and other MIAC members. Also Dr. Jeremy Tatum who is not a meteor spectroscopist but has a lot of experience with stellar spectra and orbits, etc.."

9. What project results over the years have brought you the most personal satisfaction?

"Nothing really sticks out here. Any spectrum that I record is exciting as spectra on film are difficult to obtain using conventional equipment. Today, there are many spectra on record so only the best get measured, as this is rather time consuming and professionals have limited time for this."

10. What project results over the years do you believe have been of the most use to the professional meteor researchers?

"Jiri Borovicka found my 1986 Perseid spectrum useful and as mentioned, a paper was presented on it. Also, I hope my image intensified Leonid storm spectra will prove useful in the future."

11. If a new person starting out in meteors wanted to get involved in the type of meteor projects that you have been doing, what type of skills would they need?

"This is a difficult question to answer. I once asked Ian Halliday if this was still worth doing. He commented that the utility of doing spectroscopy is complex but is still worth the effort. An amateur like myself operates from a single location. It is very desirable to have height information by triangulation. This requires setting up another station 30 to 100 km. away. So far I have not found anyone that wants to do this."

"Today, precision blazed transmission gratings are preferred over objective prism units. Such gratings are expensive especially in larger sizes. Large format cameras with long fast focal length lenses such as Kodak Aero Ektars, etc. are ideal. I have modified an F-24 British Aero camera to accept 4X5 cut film. Unfortunately at $1.00 plus for each exposure this can quickly add up. I also use a 120 format camera which reduces the cost of film but dispersion is less than the 4X5 system. In the past, professionals used 8X10 glass plates but the cost of doing this is prohibitive. These units will only record spectra of meteors of -2.0 magnitude and brighter so your chances of recording a good spectrum is rather slim. You can use up a lot of film before one is recorded."

"Amateurs tend to concentrate their efforts during the peak periods of major meteor showers as this increases one's chances of recording a spectrum. Unfortunately today, there are many spectra recorded from major showers like the Perseids and Geminids. Unless you record a very good spectrum from these showers it probably will not add anything new to the science, so is unlikely to be measured at this time. Spectra from minor showers are still few in number so these can still be important. Also, it is highly desirable to record the spectrum of a possible meteorite dropping fireball. Chances of doing this are rather slim however. The Czechs recorded a fireball spectrum with over 1000 lines measured. A dream of mine!"

"There is very little written on this subject for amateur consumption. Probably the best source is the IMO Photographic Handbook, available for download on their website. See http://www.imo.net and http://www.imo.net/photo/handbook. There is a chapter written on meteor spectroscopy."

"Other sources I use are professional papers on this topic. Somewhat difficult for the novice to understand and digest. Many of these are available on ADS, the Astronomical Data Service website at: http://adswww.harvard.edu & http://adsabs.harvard.edu/ads_abstracts.html You can also check a good library for technical publications on this subject. This will give you some idea of what professional researchers are doing."

"Dr. Martin Beech from the University of Regina has just published a book for meteor enthusiasts. It even has a couple of my photographs in it I'm told. I have not seen a copy yet but Dr. Jeremy Tatum recommends it and is writing a review of it. It's published in England, and might be hard to find here. The publisher is Crowood Press. It's called "Meteors and Meteorites: Origins and Observations", paperback, publication date February 2006, ISBN number 1 86126 825 4. The Crowood website is at http://www.crowoodpress.co.uk"

12. Could you give us some web links to further information on your meteor projects and the types of research you are doing?

"The best thing to do here is a Google Search for 'meteor spectra', 'meteor spectroscopy', etc. This will turn up many hits of this subject. Too many to list here."

13. With light pollution becoming an issue all over the globe, what do you see as the best projects for dedicated amateur meteor observers in the future?

"Light pollution is indeed a problem. This can limit the length of your time exposures. One just has to experiment to see what is acceptable. My own backyard observatory site is unfortunately getting worse every year but I guess you have to learn to live with this."

Congratulations go out to Ed Majden for being awarded the Chant Medal of the RASC!

Wondering what to do on those overcast summer days and evenings at the cottage? Or those quiet cloudy nights at home? There is a wonderful reading list on the website of the ASP, the Astronomical Society of the Pacific, for those interested in some lighthearted summer fiction reading.

Check out http://www.astrosociety.org/education/resources/scifiprint.html

It is called a list of 'Science Fiction Stories with Good Astronomy & Physics'. The list was compiled by Andrew Fraknoi in 2002. You will have to, of course, judge the science for yourself!

Samples of sci-fi reading on the list include the following:

Clarke, Arthur C. - "The Hammer of God".  1993, Bantam.  An asteroid
threatens to collide with the Earth.

Niven, Larry & Pournelle, Jerry - "Lucifer's Hammer".  1977, Fawcett.  A
giant asteroid or comet collides with the Earth.

Carver, Jeff - "Neptune Crossing".  1994, Tor.  An intelligent life-form on
Neptune's moon Triton helps humans prevent a comet from crashing into the
Earth.

Benford, Gregory & Carter, Paul - "Iceborn".  1989, Tor.  Proposes a form of
life that can survive on Pluto and in the Oort Cloud.

Davies, Paul - "Fireball".  1987, Heinemann.  Antimatter micrometeorites
threaten Earth.

Innes, Michael - "The Weight of the Evidence".  1943, Harper/Perennial.  A
somewhat ordinary murder mystery, but the murder was committed using a
meteorite in a university setting.

Lunan, Duncan - "The Comet, the Cairn, and the Capsule" in Asimov, Isaac, et
al, eds. - "Comets".  1986, Signet/NAL.  Several civilizations leave
messages on the nucleus of an interstellar comet.

Anderson, Poul - "Pride" in Asimov, Isaac, et al., eds. - "Comets".  1986,
Signet/NAL.  About 'Nemesis', the hypothesized star whose interaction with
the Oort Cloud is supposed to result in 'comet showers' coming into the
inner solar system.

Some of the titles on the list are out of print - but summer is a great time to check out secondhand bookstores for interesting reading of all kinds...

Need some info sheets on meteors and what's up in the sky - for the public, or your local astronomy club, or for your kids' school or scout groups? NAMN has a number of printable handout sheets available:

1.  "How to Observe Shooting Stars" - our tri-fold, 2-sided NAMN brochure
2.  "What are Meteors?" - a 1 page info sheet on showers throughout the year
3.  "What is a Meteor?" - a French info sheet, with thanks to Pierre Martin
4.  "Surf the Astro Web!" - a list of recommended astronomy websites
5.  "What's Up Tonight?" - how to find out what's visible in tonight's sky

These info sheets are available in electronic form at no charge - just email Lew Gramer, our Public Outreach Coordinator at dedalus@alum.mit.edu, or any of the rest of us, addresses at the end of the newsletter. The info sheets are in Word format, and you can just print off as many copies as you need. Enjoy!

There are many great maps and tools on the web for learning the constellations of the sky - and learning about space.

If you are new to meteor observing, you really need to learn your sky. There are many maps available - and some are a lot easier to follow than others. This writer has found many maps that are so complicated - or so compact - that even an experienced observer has difficulty following them. A map for a beginner should be clean, not complicated. Some maps are in books and printed form, and some are on the web. Computer programs that show the sky are available - but something that you can print off for free, and take outside at night is far preferable to a map for indoor enjoyment.

One of the simplest sky charts can be found on the website "Heavens Above", at http://www.heavens-above.com. Ignore the 'Register' bit. Just 'Select' your country, then your city, and then scroll down the page to 'Whole Sky Chart'. Type in what day you want, and pick a time of night. Pick black on white, as it's easier to read. Then print it. It will give you your constellations, and show you where all the visible planets are. And - it's really easy to learn the constellations from these maps. Print a couple, for different times of night. Maybe 9 p.m., and midnight, and 3 a.m. That will cover the sky as the constellations move throughout your night.

NAMN has a set of great star charts too. Ours are designed to enable you to learn your constellations - but we also mark on the brightness, or magnitude of a large number of stars, to help you in judging the brightness of the meteors you see. Our set of 4 maps can be found at http://www.namnmeteors.org/charts.html. Set your printer to 'landscape' mode before printing.

For more detailed online maps - once you understand the basic constellation outlines - check out the constellation maps of the Hawaiian Astronomical Society at http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/constellations.html. For each constellation, they provide the mythological background, a choice of maps, and details on deep sky objects in the constellation. For example, for the constellation of Bootes (note the Bootid meteors this month), we have details at http://www.hawastsoc.org/deepsky/boo/index.html. For the whole constellation map, pick the 'interactive wide area map', and click on the 'map better suited for use in the field' - then print.

There are also some great sky calendars on the web, for learning what is happening in the sky - and when.

For meteor observers, the International Meteor Organization has a Meteor Shower Calendar. It's in text form, with selected maps for meteor showers - and is the definitive reference that most meteor observers around the globe refer to. It can be found at http://www.imo.net

For phases of the moon, a wonderful monthly moon calendar can be printed off from http://stardate.org/nightsky/moon

Lastly, for the kids in your family, NASA has a wonderful printable 1-page color calendar for each month. Every month has a comical space photo, and the squares for the days give moon phases and interesting science and space tidbits. At the bottom of each month's page are weblinks to more information. These calendar pages are cute and colorful - and really delightful for adults as well. Print them off for your bulletin board from http://spaceplace.nasa.gov/en/kids/calendar.shtml

June 8-14, 2006, Ostersund, Sweden...
The Workshop on Impact Craters as Indicators for Planetary Environmental Evolution and Astrobiology will be held in Ostersund, Sweden. Sessions include terrestrial craters, craters on other planetary bodies, the influences of the impact on the target area, the target area on the fate of the projectile, and the properties of the impactor on the cratering process, other consequences (eg. tsunamis), environments created by the impact and their importance for life, and astrobiological aspects of impact cratering. There will be two study field trips to the Lockne Crater, and an excursion to the GeoCenter-Lockne Impact Crater Museum. For information, check out the website at http://www.geo.su.se/Lockne2006 and contact Dr. Jens Ormo of the Planetary Geology Laboratory, CSIC/INTA, Madrid, Spain at ormo@inta.es

July 10-14, 2006, Singapore...
The AOGS, Asia Oceania Geosciences Society, will hold its 3rd Annual Meeting in Singapore. Jeremie Vaubaillon has advised us that there will be a special session on the field of meteor science. Topics covered at the conference are quite varied - invited speakers include G. Consolmagno of the Vatican Observatory on 'Evidence from Meteorites', Cheng Fang of Nanjing University on 'Spectroscopic Approaches to Solar Flares: A Review', Paul Jones of the Australia Telescope National Facility on 'Radio Observations from Australia of Comet 9P/Tempel 1 for Deep Impact', and Dave Anderson of NOAA on 'Solar Activity and Indian Monsoons'. The deadline for abstract submission is February 15th. The deadline for reduced fees for registration is May 15th. For information, check out the website at http://www.asiaoceania-conference.org and contact info@asiaoceania-conference.org

September 14-17, 2006, Roden, The Netherlands...
The IMC, the International Meteor Conference of the International Meteor Organization, will be held near Roden in the Netherlands. This is the annual get-together for both amateur meteor observers and professional researchers alike. Talks will cover all types of meteor observing - visual, telescopic, photographic, video, and radio. The registration fee is 120 Euros, and includes the conference, all meals, all accommodation, an excursion, and a conference t-shirt. Special workshops will be held on meteor orbit determination and radio meteors from September 11th to 13th, with a separate fee. Mark Holland on your calendar for September! For more info, check out http://www.imo.net/imc2006

For information on upcoming astronomy meetings, see: "International Astronomy Meetings List" at http://cadcwww.hia.nrc.ca/meetings

NAMN email: namn@namnmeteors.org
NAMN website: http://www.namnmeteors.org

Mark Davis, meteors@comcast.net
Goose Creek, South Carolina, USA
Coordinator, North American Meteor Network

Cathy Hall, chall@cyberus.ca
Ottawa, Ontario, Canada
Writer, NAMN Notes

Lew Gramer, dedalus@alum.mit.edu
Homestead, Florida, USA
Coordinator, Public Outreach
Owner/Moderator, 'MeteorObs'

Kevin Kilkenny, namnfireball@earthlink.net
Staten Island, New York, USA
Coordinator, Fireballs and Meteorites

Back issues of NAMN Notes can be found on-line at the NAMN website and in the MeteorObs archives at:
http://www.meteorobs.org
by selecting 'Browse Archive by Month'

To subscribe to the meteor email list or to find out information on our weekly chat sessions:
Contact Lew Gramer at:
dedalus@alum.mit.edu